Cameron England The Advertiser Adelaide

Santos shares have hit levels not seen since 1995 as the oil price continues to slide

SANTOS shares have plunged to a two-decade low despite vague takeover rumours floating around the market.

Santos stock was hammered on Tuesday, closing 26c, or 8.1 per cent lower at $2.95 — levels it has not touched since late 1995.

The Adelaide company’s shares have basically halved in each of the past two years to January, trading at $12.51 in January 2014 and $6.35 in January last year.

At the current share price, the company is worth about $5.2 billion, well below the value of its investment in its $US18.5 billion Gladstone liquefied natural gas plant, let alone its other assets such as its Cooper Basin oil and gas fields and the Moomba gas plant in South Australia, and its overseas and offshore Australian assets.

There was a rumour that the company was being considered as a takeover target by French oil giant Total — also a partner in GLNG — but those rumours were played down by analysts.

Dec. 20, 2015, the Northern Daily Leader.

THE University of NSW has reaffirmed its position that the drop in groundwater levels around Werris Creek are in part caused by the Whitehaven Coal mine, despite an independent state government commissioned report claiming otherwise.

The Department of Primary Industries (DPI) Water commissioned independent expert Noel Merrick to conduct a peer review of the UNSW study, which was done on behalf of Caroona Coal Action Group who have used water concerns at Werris Creek in a campaign against the proposed Shenhua mine.

Dr Merrick’s review confirmed there had been a drop in groundwater levels, but “found no evidence that the declines are due to the mine”.

Instead, Dr Merrick pointed to climatic conditions as the likely cause for the decline.

Racing around on motorbikes, riding horses, swimming in dams and generally getting dirty is a dusty dream-world for the many children visiting farms these summer holidays. But they’re not always as aware of potential dangers as those who live there, so it’s important to set some rules and boundaries to keep everyone safe.

Children under 15 years old make up about 20 per cent of the on-farm deaths in Australia each year, and nearly one-third of those children are visitors, according to the Australian Centre for Agricultural Health and Safety (ACAHS).

Historically the biggest risk has been drowning, but quad bikes are an increasing issue, with two deaths involving children recorded in the first half of 2015.

ANTI-coal seam gas activists have followed up on their promise to continue disrupting Santos activities in the Pilliga forest by staging a road blockade at the gates of the energy company’s Leewood wastewater treatment yesterday morning.

About 20 people prevented contractors from entering the site for two and a half hours.

Construction started at the site last week, despite the facility being at the centre of a court battle over the legality of its approval.

Wilalla farmer Alistair Donaldson took part in the protest and said he was “deeply concerned” construction was under way before the outcomes of the court case were determined. “If I was in court about the legality of the development application for my house, do you think I’d be allowed to keep building before the case was determined?” Mr Donaldson said.

“If the court finds that Leewood has not been properly assessed, Santos will have to go back to the drawing board in the assessment process and all the work currently under way will have been completed without valid approval.

“There’s double standards at play here and Santos should be required to press pause at least until it’s clear its approval is legal.”

Santos general manager of energy NSW, Peter Mitchley, said the protest activity at Leewood had no impact on Santos operations and the company had all approvals in place to undertake the work.

“The Leewood Phase 2 Project was approved following a rigorous and detailed assessment process which was carried out in accordance with the relevant regulatory guidelines.